Case Number 18117

GAMER

The Charge

In the near future, you don't live to play...you'll play to live.

Opening Statement

The directing duo of Neveldine/Taylor (that would be Mark Neveldine and Brian
Taylor) kicked down the door of first-film expectations with an adrenaline rush
called Crank. The film was a videogame metaphor about a man who was
destined to die unless he could keep his life bar full. With Gamer, the
pair takes videogames from conceit to reality.

Facts of the Case

Sometime in the not-too-distant-but-just-distant-enough future, death row
inmates will compete in a real life videogame called "Slayers." If an
inmate can survive 30 rounds of war zone immersion, he'll be set free. The only
catch is the inmates are merely surrogates; they're controlled by teen gamers
who think of this whole event as nothing more than the next Call of Duty
game.

Kable (Gerard Butler, 300), Slayers's most popular inmate, is
just four "save points" away from winning his freedom...if the show's
creator allows it.

The Evidence

Gamer is a film that's simultaneously criticizing and targeting its
audience: videogamers. It predicts a future where violence and sex are so
glorified that the only thing that can sate society's collective id is seeing
convicts kill each other for sport. In this future, videogamers are either upper
class brats or disgusting slobs, neither of which have any sense of morality.
Neveldine and Taylor aren't the first to put forward this idea, of course --
remember The Running Man and Death Race 2000? Well, you probably
won't be surprised to hear that those two movies are far better.

In the future, where exposition seems to be a part of every nightly
newscast, buildings are covered with poorly Photshopped billboards and exploding
fire text. Pay-per-view is still a reliable business model. Everyone uses
Minority Report-style computers. Second Life and World of
Warcraft have been replaced by remote controlled humans who look like they
were dressed in a Spencers. Amidst all this chaos is the leading
convict-slave-superstar: Kable. He's well on his way to winning his freedom, and
everyone's super excited about it.

Unfortunately, just giving a character a wife and splicing in some quick
flashbacks to imply some sort of frame-up or mystery doesn't make him
three-dimensional. Kable, played adequately by Gerard Butler, is just another
gruff action hero out to get his wife back. That's fine, especially in a movie
that's supposed to be a throwback to the good old days of action flicks, except
that the action is indecipherable.

Neveldine and Taylor have the potential to among the most creative action
directors in the industry -- they operate the camera on rollerblades, swing it
from the ceiling, and employ any number of interesting angles and pans -- except
that their films are edited with the pace of a hummingbird heart. Gamer's
primary selling point is the action, but the film instantly becomes a mess of
explosions, quick zooms, video glitches, and slow motion. I understand that they
were trying to recreate something like the Gears of War games on XBox
360, but what's missing is a cohesive point of view. The film is an assault on
the eyes.

When the camera isn't flipping sideways or getting rocked by exploding
trucks, it finds time to rest on the faces of a solid cast. Butler is a great
action hero when he's not toiling in romantic comedies. He's got a strong
demeanor and acting skills that go beyond his ability to yell. His foil, the
evil tech geek Ken Castle, is played as a zany villain by Michael C. Hall
(Dexter). Castle is like a goofy, Americanized bad guy in a Japanese-made
beat 'em up: he's got a twangy Southern accent, is drunk on power, and finds
time to do a karaoke dance routine during the film's climax. Filling out the
cast are some decent performances by Ludacris, who runs the underground
resistance to the games; Logan Lerman (3:10 to Yuma), the 17-year-old
controlling Kable; Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), a monstrous
assassin; Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), a nosey entertainment reporter; and
Amber Valletta (Hitch), Kable's wife-turned-avatar. The film also has
some pretty strange cameos, including John Leguizamo (Land of the Dead),
Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), James Roday and Maggie Lawson (both from
Psych).

Gamer may have failed to level-up in the story department, but it
looks extremely good on a technical level. Most of the effects and stunts were
done practically, and the HUD overlays during the game footage are believable
enough (although way too confusing for any actual videogamer to use). Part of
the reason the film looks so good is Neveldine and Taylor's use of the Red
camera system. It's a new, inexpensive yet cutting edge HD camera that's just
starting to break into Hollywood. This film is one of the first to use it, and
the picture quality is excellent. The 1.85:1 aspect ratio, as opposed to full-on
widescreen, fit with the film's videogame aesthetics; this mixed with an
interesting and varied soundtrack makes for a strong standard def DVD
release.

The disc also comes with almost two hours of featurettes, including a
three-part documentary called "Inside the Game." The doc focuses on
the cast, the production, and the post-production of the film in surprisingly
general detail. You learn how much everyone liked each other, and how brilliant
this directing pair can be, but I felt like I should have walked away with a lot
more information after a 90-minute documentary. Perhaps more interesting is the
17-minute video "First Person Shooter: The Evolution of Red," which
takes a more detailed look at the HD cameras used in the film. Also included on
the disc is a commentary track with Neveldine and Taylor, along with actors
Amber Valletta, Alison Lohman, and Terry Crews. It's a fun track to listen to,
with a nice mix of humor and insight into the film.

Closing Statement

Gamer isn't a complete disaster, especially if you're in the mood for
some cheesy action and you can't find your copy of Running Man; however,
its flat characters, headache-inducing editing style, and over the top
immaturity make it hard to recommend to anyone but the hardest of hardcore
gamers. This directing/writing pair has a lot of potential, but Gamer is
a step back from the Crank franchise.